Largest-ever military drills

The United States and Indonesian militaries began annual joint combat exercises in Sumatra island, joined for the first time by participants from other partner nations, signalling stronger ties amid growing maritime activity by China in the Indo-Pacific region.

More than 5,000 soldiers from the United States, Indonesia, Australia, Japan and Singapore were participating in this year’s exercises, making them the largest since the drills were established in 2009.

The exercises are designed to strengthen interoperability, capability, trust and cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific, the US Embassy in Jakarta said.

“It’s a symbol of the US-Indonesia bond and the growing relationship between land forces in this consequential region,” Gen Charles Flynn, Commanding General of US Army Pacific, said in the embassy statement.

Flynn and Indonesia’s Military Chief Gen Andika Perkasa opened the joint drills with a ceremony yesterday morning in Baturaja, a coastal town in South Sumatra province.

The exercises will last until Aug 14, encompassing army, navy, air force and marine drills.

The planned two-week drills opened after China’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday night it would conduct a series of targeted military operations to “safeguard national sovereignty” in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.

China has also been increasingly assertive over its claim to virtually the entire South China Sea.

US Gen Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the number of intercepts by Chinese aircraft and ships in the Pacific region with United States and other partner forces has increased significantly over the past five years, and the number of unsafe interactions has risen by similar proportions.

Milley said Indonesia is strategically critical to the region and has long been a key US partner.

Earlier this year, the United States approved a US$13.9bil (RM62bil) sale of advanced fighter jets to Indonesia. And in Jakarta last December, Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed agreements for enhanced joint naval exercises.

Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force is participating for the first time in the exercises, saying it promotes a “free and open” Indo-Pacific vision of security and trade with the United States and other democracies in the region. — AP